Nichole’s take on … 01-12-2014 Becoming energy efficient By N.Tirant Did you know that we have finally woken to the reality that Seychelles is highly dependent on imported fossil fuels to meet our energy needs? Some would be tempted to say ‘better late than never’! But being the eternal pessimist who always sees the glass half empty, my reality check is a warning about just how daunting the huge task ahead if indeed we are serious about reducing our energy consumption. With almost all our energy needs coming from imported fossil fuels, the pressure on our foreign exchange reserves is enormous. And when one considers that the volume of fuel imports has most certainly increased many fold since the foreign exchange “crisis” was resolved with the advent of the IMF-supervised reform programme in 2009, one can have a good idea of the size of the looming problem. Part of the answer may lie in importing differently and in this age of modern gadgets and home appliances, finding more reliable energy-efficient electrical appliances for our homes may be one of the ways forward. But to hear that our “more environmentally conscious nation” is now turning to initiatives that promote wider use of energy and water efficient appliances brings a cynical smile to my lips. Our environment parent ministry has proudly unveiled its latest project which promises greater ‘resource efficiency’. This new project, presented at yet another stakeholders’ workshop this past week, will promote and create the “enabling environment” in which energy-efficient air conditioning units, refrigerators, freezers and washing machines can operate in our homes with less power and less water. Of course the idea is to help the poor consumers who are facing ever-increasing costs as inflation catches up with and surpasses salaries and as utilities are finally charged at their true unsubsidized worth. The project doesn’t tell us how energy-efficiency will become the norm and Seychelles will cut its share of harmful carbon pollution with its ever-increasing fleet of fossil fuel-driven vehicles which guzzle up tons of diesel and petrol. But that’s another story! Oh, but for climate change the ‘Promotion and Up-scaling of Climate-resilient, Resource-efficient Technologies in a Tropical Island Context’ project would most probably have never seen the light! It has taken funding from the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank’s Global Environment Facility under that universal scapegoat climate change for the government to step up and cough up the rest to make the project a reality. Why the cynicism, you may ask? That’s because we missed the boat over a decade ago! It was back in 2002, even before ‘climate change’ had become the conventional buzzword, that the country’s private sector had pushed and shoved for the “enabling environment” that would help our country move ahead and rightly claim its title of environmental champions. Back then, as part of an effort to drive environmental standards, the private sector had proposed a whole list of ‘ingredients’ that would concoct that enabling environment in which it could import better and more energy-efficient products for use by consumers. Those proposals fell on hard ground then! But the stubborn little ‘seeds’ that stuck it out all these years could now finally sprout. Before they can bear fruit though, everyone will have to overcome just a minor hitch! With huge volumes of ordinary appliances already imported in recent years and operating in our homes, it could take more than a month of Sundays before we get rid of our old energy-inefficient fridges and washing machines to buy new ones, unless of course we are forced to!
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 09:33:14 +0000
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